I have been at the Chateau now for 3 weeks so this is really crunch time for what will go into the show. I have decided on 3 films that I definitely want to show for the exhibition in September. I have come up with a different idea for my performance and decide that I will do something different out of my comfort zone. I got up at 6am this morning to have a trial run and to see if I really need an audience to do a performance or can I do it without an audience. I am not sure that I really know the answer to that question yet but I did get some interesting film footage and it has helped me to establish what I might do for ‘Invitations d’Artistes in October. My original proposal put forward the possibility of working with different professionals within the village, such as the baker, butcher, dentist, doctor etc to create a series of performances. However I have discovered that there is only one butcher in the village, she is called Noel and she is now on holiday over August. In fact most of the local shops close over the month of August. I now need to scale back this original idea and maybe work with the gardeners here in the chateau, a butcher (if I can locate her) and a seamstress who I have met on a few occasions and who speaks English.
Well…. back to my residency and the work I will make for September, I now need to figure out the placing of the different pieces. I had planned to show everything in the very austere sitting room, however this has very specific connotations which I am not sure would complement my work. Instead I will display in the old stables, which is now my studio space. This space is neutral and think it could carry my work well. Through this working process I am very aware that the work I make can at times not take very long to execute and at other times isn’t a visual spectacle. Two small monitors showing films and a film shown beneath a clock face- I hope that they can stand alone. Similarly, I don’t slave away for hours in my studio, the film editing process has been rather brief due to the documentary style films I have so far produced. I have worked on a few drawings but only as process based thinking which are likely not to be shown in the final exhibition. This is where I spend the time thinking about what it is I want to make yet the making process itself is rather brief. It may take some time for me to come to terms with this.
